A wicked man hardens his face, but the upright man makes his way sure.
Parallel translations
- WEB A wicked man hardens his face; but as for the upright, he establishes his ways.
- KJV A wicked man hardeneth his face: but as for the upright, he directeth his way.
- ESV A wicked man puts on a bold face, but the upright gives thought to his ways.
- NKJV A wicked man hardens his face, But as for the upright, he establishes his way.
- NASB A wicked person displays a bold face, But as for the upright, he makes his way sure.
- NLT The wicked bluff their way through, but the virtuous think before they act.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The wicked put on a brazen face, but the upright order their ways thoughtfully. It matters because it contrasts hardened defiance with humble integrity.
Overview
A wicked man bluffs with a hard, defiant face, while the upright give careful thought to establish a right path (Proverbs 14:8; 15:21). The contrast is between stubborn presumption and considered integrity. Wisdom walks circumspectly, while folly brazens it out.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- 1 Th 3:11Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you.
- Hag 1:7This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways.
- Prov 11:5The righteousness of the blameless directs their path, but the wicked fall by their own wickedness.
- Prov 28:14Blessed is the man who is always reverent, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.
- Prov 29:1A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.
- Ezek 18:28Because he considered and turned from all the transgressions he had committed, he will surely live; he will not die.
- Hag 2:18–19Consider carefully from this day forward—from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, the day the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid—consider carefully:
- Ps 119:5Oh, that my ways were committed to keeping Your statutes!
- Jer 5:3O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
- Jer 8:12Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.
- Ps 119:59I considered my ways and turned my steps to Your testimonies.
- Jer 44:16–17“As for the word you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you!
- Luke 15:17–18Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death!
- Jer 3:2–3“Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been violated? You sat beside the highways waiting for your lovers, like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
- Hag 2:15Now consider carefully from this day forward: Before one stone was placed on another in the temple of the LORD,
- Hag 1:5Now this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 21:29 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.